The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a 3-dimensional non-volatile memory device, a memory system including the same, and a method of manufacturing the device.
The development of semiconductor memory devices is showing a tendency toward increasing integration density and storing a high capacity of data. Since a typical 2-dimensional memory device is arranged on a semiconductor substrate in a row direction, a semiconductor substrate having an even larger area may be required to store a high capacity of data. However, as the integration density of 2-dimensional memory devices increases, interference and disturbance between adjacent devices may increase, thereby complicating multi-level cell (MLC) operations by which a high capacity of data may be easily stored. To overcome the restrictions of 2-dimensional memory devices, 3-dimensional memory devices are being developed.
In a 3-dimensional memory device, memory cells, which used to be conventionally arranged only in row directions, may be stacked in a direction perpendicular to a semiconductor substrate. Thus, the 3-dimensional memory device may have a high integration density and embody a large data capacity as compared with a 2-dimensional memory device.
Memory cells of a 3-dimensional memory device may include a plurality of conductive layers and a plurality of interlayer insulating layers, which are alternately stacked, and a vertical channel layer configured to penetrate the plurality of conductive layers and the plurality of interlayer insulating layers. In recent years, various techniques for improving the reliability of the 3-dimensional memory devices have been proposed.